By Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk’s own admission, his team has lost $110 million from when he took over in 2003 through Oct. 2013. At that time, he suggested that the Senators, which have the fifth lowest cap hit in the league, were still open to being buyers at the deadline.

Now that they have inked a broadcast deal with Bell Media believed to be worth up to $400 million over 12 years, you would assume that Melnyk will open up his wallet. And that might be the case – to an extent.

“We are going to be competitive in spending on players,” Melnyk promised, according to the Ottawa Citizen. “If I need to spend an extra $2 million to $3 million (on unrestricted free agents) to make the playoffs, it’s a no-brainer. I’ll do it.”

At the same time, Melnyk wants the team to spend “wisely” and cautioned that having extra money doesn’t automatically lead to spending more.

It will be an interesting storyline as we head towards the deadline given that the Senators are fiercely battling for a postseason spot and are in a unique position to add aggressively with their excessive cap space. If they prove to be major buyers at the deadline it would also help contrast them from the team that couldn’t lock upDaniel Alfredsson over the summer.

This is really good for the Sens organization. They have a pretty good core in place but they’re missing a few pieces that can be brought in through trades or free-agency now that they’ve signed this deal and have more money to spend. This team should be aiming for the playoffs and nothing less for the next few years. Melnyk’s saying the right things about spending wisely (just hope he doesn’t spend too much on forensic investigations into Matt Cooke)

esracerx46 - Jan 30, 2014 at 9:43 AM

If those numbers are correct, it breaks down to 33 million a year. The way this guy has managed his “fortune” he should probably do us all a favor and sell the team now.